*UPDATE* - A VERY limited amount of production seats have just been released for FM104's The Gig. If you want tickets to the gig of year, head here NOW. 

FM104's The Gig is back! 

Every year FM104 throws the biggest party in Dublin. Lucky listeners get to see the hottest acts in the intimate surroundings of The Olympia...

On Saturday May 6th, Picture This, Hudson Taylor, The Academic, Little Hours, and BARQ will take to the stage with the hilarious Al Foran as special guest MC on the night. 

On top of all that, station favourite Gavin James will also join us on the night as well as a very special finale with The Coronas' Danny O' Reilly and The Scripts' Glen Power.

Here's all you need to know ahead of the big night: 

Times 

Doors are at 6:30pm with the first act taking to the stage at 7:10pm! The show should wrap at around 11pm. 

Acts

Gavin James 

Fresh off the back of his largest ever headline gig at the 3 Arena last year, we are delighted to announce Gavin James as our special guest at FM104's The Gig. 

Gavin released his eagerly-anticipated debut album, Bitter Pill on March 11th 2016, having already gone Top 5, been certified Platinum and winner of Choice Music Prize’s Song of the Year in Ireland in 2013 and 2016. 

Life is always a bit of a blur for the Dubliner. He's lost count of how many gigs he played, couldn’t say how many countries he visited and hasn’t a clue how few days off he got. The highlights, however, he will never forget. Seeing the live album he’d recorded at his local pub Whelan’s for next to nothing take off across the world was one. Supporting friend and fan Ed Sheeran for two nights at his hometown’s huge Croke Park (75,000), spending the summer supporting Sam Smith in the States and opening for Taylor Swift in Hyde Park were others. There was, too, the extraordinary success of The Book of Love, James’ haunting version of the Magnetic Fields classic which saw him invited on Dancing With The Stars, The Late Show…with James Corden (twice) and most recently Jimmy Kimmel Live, BBC One Show, The National Lottery and C'est A Vous.

Picture This

It's a good week for Picture This fans. Not only will the Athy duo headline FM104's The Gig, they also just teased some brand new music. 

Their new single Never Change will drop just three days after The Gig, on the 9th of May. 

NEW SINGLE

"Never Change"

May 9th pic.twitter.com/qNfzydNvXF

— Picture This (@BandPictureThis) May 2, 2017

Picture This is comprised of Ryan Hennessy and Jimmy Rainsford, a pair that have enjoyed a stratospheric rise since their coming together in late 2015. 

In October of that year, the pair recorded a sample of Take of My Hand and uploaded it to Facebook and YouTube - that video has now amassed over 1.2 million views across both platforms.

Their debut gig at The Grand Social sold out in 30 minutes, meaning that they were forced to move it to The Academy last minute to meet demand. 

It wasn't their only record-breaking debut... their debut EP, Picture This EP, skyrocketed to number one in the Irish charts.

Last year, a sold out nationwide tour saw them play to over 10,000 people. 

Hudson Taylor

Dublin folk duo Hudson Taylor formed in 2011 and have enjoyed a prolific music career since then. The brothers, Harry and Alfie Hudson-Taylor, released their debut EP Battles in 2012, which peaked at #1 in the Irish iTunes charts.

Now signed to Polydor, the duo's full length debut album Singing For Strangers reached #3 in the Irish charts and 24 in the UK. 

A second album is currently in the works! 

The Academic

These four Mullingar lads formed in their teens back in 2011, and are one of the most exciting young Irish bands on the scene at the moment. The Indie rock band are radio favourites, with their single Different going down a storm on airwaves and their recent single Mixtape 2003 racking up 2 million hits on Spotify. 

The band consists of Craig (Lead vocals + Guitar) Matt (Guitar) Stephen (Bass) Dean (Drums). Just off the plane from a UK tour, they've been a regular fixture at festivals all over Ireland over the last two years including Electric Picnic, Sea Sessions, Longitude and Other Voices. 

This year they're taking a step back from the hectic touring schedule and festival circuit to finish their album, so catch them live at FM104's The Gig while you can! 

Little Hours 

Formed in 2014, this Irish folk-pop duo is composed of pianist/lead vocalist John Doherty and guitarist Ryan McCloskey.

Their 2015 single It’s Still Love has received huge acclaim and even earned them a nomination for Irish Song of the Year at the Meteor Choice Awards. 

Video via YouTube/LittleHoursVEVO

Their popularity earned them some massive support slots, and the lads have appeared alongside Kodaline, James Bay, The Coronas and Gavin Bay. 

Their most recent single Water is getting lots of love on the airwaves and we can expect a debut album from them soon. 

Watch our 60 Seconds With... Little Hours below: 

BARQ 

Last year Dublin agro-soul four piece BARQ released their debut single Gentle Kind of Lies to critical acclaim and a surge of media attention. The track was picked up Spotify’s new music playlist in both the UK and Brazil, as well as being included on IASCA’s playirish USA, and two of Goldenplec’s Goldenstereo playlists.

Video via YouTube/BARQ music

Since then, BARQ have been one of the most talked about bands in Ireland having wowed crowds at a number of leading festivals across the country including Electric Picnic. Lead singer Jess Kav featured on the front cover of Ireland's premiere music-magazine, Hot Press and in January they were featured in The Irish Times Top Fifty To Watch In 2017.  

Video via YouTube/BARQ music

Pssst! The finale is not one to be missed, so if you weren't lucky enough to get tickets to tonight's gig, you'll want to tune into Facebook for a VERY special Facebook live at around 10:30pm! 

Megan Cassidy | megan@urbanmedia.ie